Chicken Little
President Bush utilizes the Chicken Little approach to leadership by trying to convince the American public that the sky is falling.
America needs to be steadied by leadership rather than being shaken and stirred. Unfortunately, Bush's credentials for shaking and stirring are unquestioned.
The Iraq imbroglio is being repackaged as a World War and the keynote event of the new century. The entire threat from Islamic terrorists has been unrealistically portrayed as being more virulent than evidence warrants. Others more erudite than myself support this position, including writer Ted Galen Carpenter (This is not Another World War).
Carpenter's recent article recognizes that terrorism poses a frightening and tragic, but manageable, threat.
Why is Chicken Little leadership acceptable to the American public? Today my health magazine had an article on "The foods we are afraid of". Articles abound on inanimate objects that kill -- everything from toys to air fresheners seem to pose a threat to our well-beingn and very existence.
Have we become so skittish of our world that we see it as a malevolent and antagonistic place? We deserve better than a timid and fearful existence. And make no mistake that our sustained attack in Iraq can only be propped up by such fear--the "We need to get 'em over there before they come over here" mentality.
A country like Israel may have to launch an all-out attack against her aggressors, as her back is against the wall; our backs are not against the wall. Moreover, it's not our job to homogenize the world under the umbrella of democracy. Christians may be charged with evangelizing and spreading the Good Word, but that is not the task of a democracy. Demagogues, yes; democratically-elected officials, no.
--Lisa and Jim
America needs to be steadied by leadership rather than being shaken and stirred. Unfortunately, Bush's credentials for shaking and stirring are unquestioned.
The Iraq imbroglio is being repackaged as a World War and the keynote event of the new century. The entire threat from Islamic terrorists has been unrealistically portrayed as being more virulent than evidence warrants. Others more erudite than myself support this position, including writer Ted Galen Carpenter (This is not Another World War).
Carpenter's recent article recognizes that terrorism poses a frightening and tragic, but manageable, threat.
Why is Chicken Little leadership acceptable to the American public? Today my health magazine had an article on "The foods we are afraid of". Articles abound on inanimate objects that kill -- everything from toys to air fresheners seem to pose a threat to our well-beingn and very existence.
Have we become so skittish of our world that we see it as a malevolent and antagonistic place? We deserve better than a timid and fearful existence. And make no mistake that our sustained attack in Iraq can only be propped up by such fear--the "We need to get 'em over there before they come over here" mentality.
A country like Israel may have to launch an all-out attack against her aggressors, as her back is against the wall; our backs are not against the wall. Moreover, it's not our job to homogenize the world under the umbrella of democracy. Christians may be charged with evangelizing and spreading the Good Word, but that is not the task of a democracy. Demagogues, yes; democratically-elected officials, no.
--Lisa and Jim
Labels: chicken little, fear-mongering, terrorism as overstated threat
posted by rangeragainstwar at 2:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home